Jerusalem bomb attack which killed Israeli sign of escalation in West Bank
The Jerusalem operation came at a time when the Palestinian territories are witnessing a field escalation in the wake of the right-wing victory in the Israeli elections, which may keep the door widely open for escalation in the coming period.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The double bomb attack that took place in the city of Jerusalem Nov. 23, in which a settler was killed and 22 others injured, some of whom critically, resulted in a lot of questions about further escalation.
The Jerusalem operation could mark the beginning of a new phase of security escalation and confrontation between the Palestinians and Israel, as it poses great challenges to the Israeli security system amid the failure of the Israeli intelligence apparatus to identify the cell that carried out the operation.
There seems to be a panoply of escalation options, as Israel has previously threatened to respond to Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip should they continue to incite operations in the West Bank. In other words, targeting leaders in Gaza or carrying out large-scale incursions in the West Bank may be one of the response options to calls by ultranationalist Knesset member Itamar Ben-Gvir to return to the policy of assassinations and incursions in the West Bank.
In the wake of the operation, Israeli forces stormed the town of Beit Iksa, located northwest of Jerusalem, and raided several homes. The Israeli police announced that it raised the alert level in Jerusalem.
